Background
Good Hops, stylised as GOOD HOPS, is a brewery and hop-innovation project based in Tōno City, Iwate Prefecture, located in one of Japan’s hop-growing regions. The name embodies their mission: to Growhops and Brew beer locally, while researching and developing new hop varieties and processing techniques to unlock the full potential of Japanese-grown hops.
They cultivate hops in their own farms around Tōno, including both traditional and newly bred varieties. One of their notable techniques is extracting lupulin powder without heat from freshly harvested hops. This preserves the delicate aromatics and high volatile compounds that often get lost in standard drying/processing. Their beer styles range from experimental ales and IPAs utilizing “non-heat treated” hop elements, to more classical styles that pay respect to brewing tradition.
Good Hops operates a taproom in Tōno, open on weekends, where visitors can taste the brews close to the source, see the equipment, and connect with what is happening in the fields. Their broader goal is cultural and agricultural revival: increasing the viability of hop farming in Iwate, supporting local growers, advancing brewing science, and helping make Japanese hops more self-sufficient and better appreciated.
Beer Reviews
The following are some of the beers we’ve had:
- Good Hops A Summer Day – A 5% American pale ale that is brewed using locally gorwn Cascade and Saaz hops from the Tono area, and imported German Hersbrucker hops.
- Good Hops Dear Gene – A 5% American pale ale that is brewed using locally grown Citra hops as an homage to Gene Probasco.
- Good Hops Falling in Love With – A 5% American pale ale that is brewed with locally grown hops in the form of Tono No Wind, a new variety, along with German Hallertau Mittelfluh, Tono Saaz.
- Good Hops Festival Saison – A 5% saison that is brewed with locally grown Ibuki and Saaz hops, along with some imported German Hersburcker.
- Good Hops Promise – A 4% saison that is brewed using Tono Uncountable (new variety), Tono Compact Green (new variety), Tono No Wind (new variety) hops.
Details
- Address : 5-13 Shinkokucho, Tōno City, Iwate 028-0522
- Phone : 0198-77-1110
- Homepage : https://brewgood.jp/
- Online store : https://goodhops.shop/collections/craft-beer-can
- Social Media : Instagram
